Weird Dreams Again

Haha.... I actually remembered this dream from yesterday, until now.... Because by this time, memories of the night would have already faded.

I dreamt that I was in the back carriage of a 5 Tonner. There aren't any wooden chairs behind, but lush comfy sofas!

... And there is my itchiness to release the air-pressured handbrake... the vehicle moved a bit, and I activated the handbrake again. It jerked a bit, before I released the handbrake again.... this time... Vincent the driver chided me for such a bad habit....


But.... the sound of activating and releasing the handbrake in a 3 Tonner or 5 Tonner is so damn Shiok.... hahaha...

NYP Scandal Hits

Been reading up on the scandal, regarding the NYP cheerleader who got her sex video publicised on the net. My dad is lapping the news quite well, and happily at that.

Now malaysian vendors have got the clips, they sell it on VCDs across the border.

It got splashed on two full pages of The Sunday Times. Haiz... and two pages later, I see our beloved Melvin Tan as the new face for NYP's leading diploma in the Infocom Industry.

And to random readers thinking they could get a glimpse of 'Tammy' here...

Haha. TOO BAD.

I don't have the video either.

Procastination...

has a fatality. Period.

Guh.... I called my Personal Mentor in NYP on last Thursday afternoon to ask for an apprasial form from him, as well as an testimonial for my resume.

He requested something from me, which I painstakingly typed out.

My academic record in NYP, as well as my CCA Record.

The task seems so tall, so I relaxed until today, and realised that I have to send it sooner or later, and there you go, I sent an email to him with everything written down.

With that, he has two working days to fill up the online apprasial form for my NTU application, and less than a working day for my apprasial form for my scholarship.

Then there is the testimonal...

Now it will be an uphill chore for him, and a very good time for me to cross my fingers, on both hands, and on both feet.

Well... if this doesn't work... there is only one thing left: work, and study for a uni while I'm at it.



Oh yes... I'm now on an post-operation MC, and my right leg is totally immobilised in a Jones Bandage.

And I effectively got MIA from the impending LRI check for my armour unit...

I heard there are a lot of embarassments going on there.

Like how MSD caught red-handedly our I-NET computer for having so much illegal stuff, that my Sergeant Major could just, well, blush.

Or how shredding of the MT RAC form (some form before we go to drive) requires the recording into a book, and we are dated back by at least 6 months. (and each weekday, we get about 15-24 driving details a day)

Or the fact that most of drivers are not paid their driving bonus since like 4 months?

Thank the heavens above that I had an operation in such a timely opportune.

Tis' a good time to cross fingers...

Lucky

Read a few posts here and there, and felt like posting something that relates to me.

Guess I'm just... lucky. And I should be happy.

For being born into such a caring family.

To be endowed with friends whenever trouble brews.

To have such a good computer.

To be tall, and healthy (other than being obese still)

To live in such a big home.

To have a supply of clean water, and electricity.

To have such an excellent sanitation system.

To live in Singapore.

I should be happy, and lucky.

People elsewhere are not getting such good stuff.

And I'm not laid yet... ahaha... the 21 year old virgin.

I should always think on the bright side from now on....

*drum roll* splat splash muck

And presenting... the two vehicles that are stuck in the mud...

This is the second vehicle that got stuck in the mud. In an attempt to rescue my first vehicle, it got stuck.. the wheels on the left side of the rover got in deep... Further attempts to get it out, got the wheels in deeper...

Damn... I should have done it in dry weather.... like two days later...

Another view of the second vehicle...

Now this is the view that got me astonished. The vehicle is actually slanted towards the left side, but the body of the rover looks as if it's distributed equally, causing the suspension on the right to work its hardest. The front looks okay, as the right front wheel is like... half way in the mud. But the one behind isn't... in the end, it looks as though the rear axle is about to break into two, and the right rear wheel looks like it's gonna be lodged out from the planetary drive....

The rear left wheel of the second vehicle.... 3/4 deep in the soil.
And we finally get to the first vehicle. My vehicle. The first vehicle that got stuck in the mud. Both wheels on the front digged their trench successfully (and that wasn't what I wanted). But the wheels behind were on pretty firm ground, and we tried using our weight to pivot more grip on the rear weights...

But still fail...

Yes... it's someone who is trying to get my vehicle out. Yes.. he's my Vehicle Com, the attached Company roving officer that defines the BMTC standard in our mono intake BMT. And you can see that the mud got a splash on my vehicle. Did I mention the wheels got the mud into my cabin like paintball shots?

The second rover again....

The front right wheel of the first vehicle... haiz....

The other side of the second vehicle...

Valentine's

SAF really stripped me of my memories... making me really numb... or is it really just age, or an indifferent person moving on?

It's already 1 am in the morning, an hour past the last hour of Valentine's Day.

The past people that I always message on this day, are really forgotten... a mere strand of thought remains.




To whoever visits this blog, I wish you felt love around you yesterday...



Ewww.... I can't believe I said something that someone said before... but the thought counts, right?

Now all I have to do is to find love... before my mother finds it for me...

Eww... matchmaking sucks....

And the vehicles are back.

MES brought a 7 Tonner Wrecker (a 5 Tonner weighs 16.384 tons with load) across Tekong, and recovered my vehicle! Well... okay... a vehicle that overturned, landing on the driver's side, another vehicle that got stuck in the monsoon drain of the BIC area... hmm... Wah... last weekend must be a suay day for the vehicles in Tekong...

Getting the vehicles was already a chore: the vehicle were taken out at 1200 hrs. But we had to wash the vehicles (at least the exterior) and we missed the RPL at 1230 hrs. Then me, a fellow driver (he's driven 30,000km to date, trying his best to drive less details, reducing the chance of an accident, drove a GP Car with my MTWO and me to SFT to collect the vehicle), and my MT WO.

Suay lah... my fellow driver drove the second sunken Land Rover, and I drove the first one. Wah lau... of course la, my encik cannot possibly drive a Land Rover right? of course he drive the GP Car lah.

The vehicles were clean except for one thing.

ANTS.

Lotsa ants. There are ants crawling on both vehicles. most probably, they thought they found the best spot to take shelter from the sun, or found something sweet on the vehicles. Mine wasn't that badly hit; my fellow driver was practically scratching himself all over durng the journey back to ACMTL.

The extent of the damage wasn't much: the left rear bumper of both vehicles are slightly dented, but.... the mud acculumated were like thick patches of paint: difficult to wash off, difficult to scrub away. ESPECIALLY on the DISC BRAKES! Yes The Brakes!

I really regret the intent made by my infantry roving officer to drive into the soft, wet mud of the trench digging area.

Photos are coming up... Now where are the photos my friend had...

Apart from this, we ordered roti john from the CCO Canteen in Pulau Tekong... woo it's damn good. And lingering thoughts of my encik being greeted "Good afternoon Sergeant Major!" by a platoon of recruits were one of the lame jokes that filled the air of three Armour soldiers until the 1630hrs RPL.

A Recruit's Field Camp Through the Eyes of a Driver.

6 Feb, Pre-field camp
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Supposed to park down my Landrover at 1500hrs, but realised my vehicle is down from the previous batch's field camp. Desperate for a new vehicle, reeling from the shock that the remaining vehicles are LRI-freezed vehicles or V.VIP vehicles. Gah.... Waited and waited, and finally got a Land Rover at 2200hrs.

Parked down the vehicle at 42SAR at 2300hrs, with shagged face and a few trips after attempts to get a signal mounting board and attempts to tell the specialists there that there's no signal mounting board (and from there, thoughts of "what the fuck is the ACMTL store doing" flows through my mind. Just what the hell is the store doing...)

Got all stuff prepared, but needed to pack all of that into one field pack, and two plastic bags... Stuff are mainly:

-3 sets of No. 4s
-Numbers of Underwear
-3 tins of snake powder
-2 packs of mosquito coils (and each pack has 10)
-Mess tins
-Archived 8-Days Magazines and a bloody fiction novel
-Medicine
-Samples of Centrum Pills (7 to be exact, from Sing Opens 05)
-Towel / Soap
-No toothbrush / facial cream
-6 packs of Koka Instant Noodles
-A Tin of Biscuits, Mainly Choc Chip Cookies (And crackers, and choc cream cookies)
-2 cans of luncheon meat

By the time everything is packed, it's already 0100hrs and everyone is asleep. Grr...

7 Feb, Field Camp Day 1
-----------------------
It's so predictable. I'm fucking late for the field camp. Commencement at 0500hrs, reached at 0515hrs. Drove via PIE to SAF Ferry Terminal, to Pulau Tekong. Took a RPL (holy shit vehicles crossing the sea on a float raft!!) to Pulau Tekong, reached the campsite. Drove back and forth to recce abit, and the recruits were already hit with a surprise: after a sleepy trip on a commerial bus from west to east, and a fastcraft trip (and probably the first one for them by the way), they are greeted with a 8km route march to the campsite. Tsk Tsk Tsk...

Already, at least 5 people in one company reported sick after the march, but alas, the highest form is medical help is a Medic. Okay.... two medics. Permission to the Medical Centre (the highest form of a luxury point) is only available through the OC, and the OC is a damn GARANG person. Later you'll know why....

Lessons are taught, Tekan-ing is already underway, Land Rover Recce with my Encik is on the way. Went through and forth between lotsa places, but the main places are always BMTC (where all the specs say about receiving the CO, RSM, HQ CSM, Explomo, Insert Important Persons here, but always doing you-know-what), and the campsite. And the trips on Tekong Highways always garners the most mileage... muahahah....

I thought all the Men (which means, the soldiers with ranks other than Recruit) can get fresh food rations, but no.... the OC demands that all of us eat Combat Rations. Thank GOD I had my tin of biscuits with me, and a extra big pack of sugar crackers. Noodles are a bit of a hassle to cook... since i'm always shuttling here and there.

It was basically a peaceful day, and damn satisfied driving like crazy for the whole day.

Got enlightened on the best sleeping posture in the landrover, and had a good night.

8 Feb, Field Camp Day 2, Grenade Day
------------------------------------
Yes... the recruits actually go to throw grenades during the field camp, saving them the torture of outfield training. Damn the recruits, now who says that the Mono Intake of recruits are bad?

Ok lah... the training they received actually differs a bit from SOP BMT @ BMTC.. the recruits are actually trained for their future vocation: most likely Armour Men @ 42 SAR.

E.g. : Bashas are not set up just for accomodation, but for tactical reasons too. Tsk Tsk Tsk...

Anyways, it's only the second detail of the Grenade throwing and already there are blinds. Explomos are already laughing their way to the bank as a total of 3 blinds are made.

No 5tonner transport was offered by out unit, but they got the help of Tekong 5 tonners to get the recruits around. And the recruits were actually late for the transport. Higher Up politics are already underway...

9 Feb, Field Camp Day 3, Super Shiok Day
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Today was a normal day, aside from the fact I finally cooked two packets of noodles, and got a few nice extras from my superiors. Shiok...

10 Feb, Field Camp Day 4, Super Suay Day
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We got Fresh Rations! Yeah yeah that's good news, but when compared to the fact that the recruits ALSO got Fresh Rations, we go "WHAT THE FUCK!!!"

Now that's what I mean by damn welfare.

It's raining like crazy. Sure, it feels great when a Land Rover splashes into a big puddle of muddy water. Constant Recce-ing of Pulau Tekong has got me close to 600 km of mileage, including 52 km from the West-to-East Trip.

Then it happened. The Si-Bei-Suay thing happened.

My vehicle wanted me to recce around the the reclaimed land area... well to be exact, the trench digging area.

The rain just stopped. The land is soft and muddy, the Perfect Ground for planting Padi.

The Perfect Ground for getting a Land Rover Stuck in the Mud.

My Land Rover got stuck in the mud.

That's nothing... We got another rover to try to get the stuck rover out of the mud.

THAT Rover got stuck too.

Attempts to contact my superior was in vain: no reception, no phone call made.

Attempts to do the different drive mode are made. Four-Wheel Drive, Low Range Gear Ratio, Differential Lock, you name it, I did it. The damage got worse. And night time has already arrived.

I spent the night like a soldier without a M16 Rifle.

The other soldier ended their day with a barbeque of seafood caught on Tekong, and meat from Mainland Singapore.

11 Feb, Field Camp Day 5, Super Sian Day
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Turnout happened. The recruits were given a dose of reality. Even the medics, who are sickened by the increasing number of recruits reporting sick, joined in too.

I didn't really care. I was too worried about getting my rover out of the mud. To get it moving again.

The recruits went for their BIC. I continued my rest.

After which is the Trench Digging. The scorching made Heatstroke victims out of recruits. Desperate, the Remaining Land Rover was summoned to get water.

Crazy Ideas to get the Landrover out of the mud was made.

Using a 5 Tonner to tow a Landrover from afar, using 16 toggle ropes and a tow bar.

Failed. Two toggle ropes actually snapped.

Attempts to dig out a deeper trench to get the mud under the Vehicle out, much like a underground carpark, was made.

Failed. Oh come on, I'm not a OCS Infantry Trainee loh...

Attempts to anchor grip on the wheels using the spade, wooden branches, stones, and plastic lids were also made.

Failed. We smell smoked rubber.

12 Feb, Field Camp Day 6, Super Pissed Day
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Trouble is brewing. I finally contacted my MT WO and MTO about my situation. Sensed reluctance to send help from their side. I smell politics again. Grr....

And to think my MT WO actually suggested staying by the vehicle until it's recovered. WTF? and get bitten by the mosquitoes and sandflies again? See my people book out of camp? See the Police Gurkha Land Rover Drive Past Me??? KNN CCB lah...

Now in camp... with nary a chance to book out, much less get a new change of clothing.

And with my vehicle in the Mud, in the Trench Area, in Pulau Tekong.